David Koepp is certainly an interesting figure. He’s one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters, and the go-to guy for big-budget blockbusters, having scripted Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-man, Indiana Jones and Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, War Of The Worlds, Angels & Demons and more.
He’s also tried his hand at directing, but compared to his screenwriting for others, they’ve been fairly low-key efforts like Stir Of Echoes, Secret Window and Ghost Town. However Variety reports that he’s now planning something a little bigger (although still not at the stratospheric budget levels of the films he purely writes for). Koepp has set up Premium Rush at Sony, which he’s planning to direct, and well as co-writing it with frequent collaborator, John Kamps.
While his previous directorial efforts have been in the $20 million budget range at most, this is planned as a big, expensive action movie, that will apparently “feature the kind of elaborate chases associated with a William Friedkin pic.”
The story itself is about a 20-something New York City bike messenger, who picks up a delivery and immediately becomes the target for a dirty cop, who wants what’s in the envelope the courier is carrying. and chases him across the city to get it. Cycle couriers seem quite popular at the moment, with several movies in the works using them as a plot device, including one from Brit director Mark Tonderai.
Sony is now fast-tracking Premium Rush and will start looking for a leading man very soon, so expect to see Koepp’s film in cinemas in the not too distant future.